Locking system for a non perfectly stretched suspended partition

ABSTRACT

A system for attaching non perfectly stretched suspended partitions made of a flexible web attached at the edges thereof to a frame attached to the walls or the ceiling of a room in a building, the frame including rails with a shoulder on which the edge bears, is characterised in that the edge has the shape of a hook and includes a wing through which it is connected to the web and a seam, The edge is made of a semi-flexible material and has a flexibility level such that the two branches a and are spread apart by at least 45° from each other after the edge has been inserted into the rail so that the portion of the inner face of the seam, located towards the free end of the seam is in contact with the shoulder and thus ensures a frictional blocking of the edge in the rail.

The present invention relates to the field of suspended partitions suchas false ceilings and false walls and particularly those made of anon-perfectly stretched flexible web hanged at the edges thereof to aframe attached to the walls or the ceiling of a room in a building.

Stretched false ceilings are already known, which comprise on the onehand a frame attached to the walls or the ceiling of a room, this framebeing made of an outer rail made itself of headed profiles and, on theother hand, a flexible web stretched inside this frame, this flexibleweb being made of a plastic sheet or a weave. The flexible web ismaintained stretched by hanging, on the rail, an edge integral with theweb forming a hook, this edge having, in straight section, the shape ofa hook that clings on a shoulder of the rail.

Those known suspended partitions are based on the principle of atensioning of the flexible web on the frame, in a perfectly plane way,horizontally or vertically whether it applies to a false ceiling or afalse wall, and consequently are adapted to cover perfectly plane wallsor ceilings.

In case of covering surfaces that are not plane, for example corrugatedor curved, for instance an arched ceiling, it is not possible toperfectly stretch the web if it is wished to avoid a broken line patternof the suspended partition. It is consequently necessary to be able tofix the web on rails in order that it is imperfectly stretched whilebeing hold in said rails.

Yet the conventionally used hook, provided to enable an optionaldisassembly of the suspended partition and then its repositioning, getssystematically disengaged from its contact on the rail shoulder when theweb is relaxed, even slightly. Therefore it is not adapted to theintended use.

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a newlocking system for a suspended partition made of a flexible webimperfectly stretched and hung at the edges thereof to a frame attachedto the walls or the ceiling of a room in a building, said frame beingmade of rails having a shoulder on which the edge bears, said edge orgrab having a hook like section and having a wing through which saidgrab is connected to the web and a seam.

In this respect, the system according to the invention is noteworthy inthat the edge integral with the web, or grab, is made of a semi-flexiblematerial and has a flexibility level such that the two branches arespread apart by at least 45° from each other after said edge has beeninserted into the rail, so that the inner face portion of the seam, thatis to say the face opposite to the wing, located towards the free end ofsaid seam, is in contact with the shoulder and thus ensures a frictionalblocking of the grab in the rail.

Other advantages and features will be better pointed up from thedescription that follows of an alternative embodiment of the lockingsystem according to the invention, by reference to the annexed drawings,on which:

FIG. 1 is a partial view in vertical section of a false ceiling made ofa stretched web, having a rail attached on the upper part of a wall in aroom according to the known anterior art;

FIG. 2 is a partial view in vertical section, taken on the same scaleand with the same view angle as FIG. 1, of a false ceiling made of animperfectly stretched web having the same rail as the one shown in FIG.1 and an alternative embodiment of the locking system according to theinvention.

FIG. 1 shows the furthest part of a false ceiling according to theanterior art, made of a flexible web 1 horizontally stretched under theceiling 2 of a room. This web 1 is attached along its edges to a supportmade of a horizontal rail 3, itself attached to the superior part of awall 4 of the room by appropriate means, not represented, such asscrews. This rail 3 comprises an external vertical wing 5 that extendsparallel to the wall 4 and immediately nearby it. From this externalvertical wing 5, about at half height, comes an upper horizontal core 6extending on a short distance, for instance about 7 mm, inward the room.This core 6 gets extended at its end with an internal vertical wing 7extending downwardly somewhat lower than the external wing 5 next to thewall 4, in other words the internal wing 7 is somewhat upper that theexternal wing 5 of said rail. This external wing 5 has on its lower enda shoulder 8 extending horizontally inwardly in the room, on a shortdistance for instance of 3 mm. This squared shoulder 8 advantageouslyhas a rounded end.

The lower part of the external vertical wing 5, the upper horizontalcore 6 and the vertical wing 7 form a recess 9 opened downwardly and inwhich is engaged a grab 10 forming the edge of the stretched flexibleweb 1.

This grab 10 has, in straight section, the shape of a hook extending tothe wall 4 and opened downwardly. It has an internal branch 10 a, alsocalled a wing, by which it is linked to the web 1, and an seam-likeexternal branch 10 b having a rounded end, curved downwardly. When theweb 1 is stretched, the grab 10 is supported on the shoulder 8 by thelower end of its external branch 10 b that extends downwardly.

This grab 10 is simply supported on the horizontal lower shoulder 8 byits seam 10 b and, consequently, it is much easier to put it in itshanging position. Indeed during the mounting of the stretched web, thegrab 10 just needs to be pushed back upwardly in the recess 9, by meansof an appropriate tool, such as a spatula engaged in this grab 10, torun it between the shoulder 8 and the vertical wing 7 and bring it overthe shoulder 8. When the grab 10 is released, then it comes itself leanton the shoulder 8 and ensures a perfect maintaining of the stretched web1, thanks to the spring effect between the two grab branches due to thematerial with which it is made and to the tension exerted on theinternal branch 10 a by the web 1. The mentioned spring effect residesin that the two branches are put closer. The angle between the two grabbranches in position is lower than 15°.

Referring to FIG. 2, it will be noted that the rails 3 of these twolocking systems are perfectly identical, only the grab 10′ that allowsto hang the web 1 to said rails 3 being different.

First of all, it will be noticed that the dimensions of the shownalternative embodiment of the grab 10′ according to the invention are,concerning the length of its wing 10′a, or internal branch, and of itsseam 10′b, or external branch, lower than those of the grab 10conventionally used and shown in FIG. 1: FIGS. 1 and 2 being at the samescale, the external branch of the shown variation of the grab 10′according to the invention, also called mini-grab, has almost the samelength as the internal branch of the anterior art grab 10. It goes ofcourse without saying that dimensions of the grab 10′ do not limit theinvention and, in another alternative embodiment of the locking systemaccording to the invention, not represented, the grab 10′ could havedimensions similar to those of the conventional grab 10.

According to an essential feature of the invention, the edge or grab 10′is made of a semi-flexible material and has a flexibility level suchthat the two branches 10′a and 10′b are spread apart by at least 45°from each other after said edge has been inserted into the rail 3, sothat the portion of the internal face of the seam 10′b, that is to saythe face opposite to the wing 10′a, located towards the free end of saidseam, is in contact with the shoulder 8 and thus ensures a frictionalblocking of the grab 10′ in the rail 3.

The grab 10′ object of the present invention is advantageously made of asemi-flexible extruded plastic material, similar to the grab 10representing the anterior art, but conferring a higher flexibility levelso that the branches can spread apart from each other.

Thus, when the grab 10′ is put in the housing 9 of the rail 3, theweight exerted by the flexible web 1 on the grab will spread apart itstwo branches. The spacing angle of the two branches is at least 45°.Preferably, it will be between 70° and 130°, more preferably next to90°. Thanks to this spreading apart of the branches, the portion of theinternal face of the seam 10′b located towards its free end contacts thesurface of the shoulder 8.

The exerted frictional force is sufficient to enable the blocking of thegrab 10′ without any possibility of inappropriate disengaging thereof.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the lower end of theseam 10′b of the grab 10′ could advantageously be beveled in order topresent a plane section. With the end of the seam 10′b being beveled, itpresents then two straight surfaces, one of which contacting theshoulder 8. It is well understood that, because the contacting surfacesare plane, the locking provided by the friction forces will be better.

Finally, the present invention applies more particularly to non planefalse ceilings, but it is well obvious that the examples just given areonly a particular illustration in no case limiting the applicationfields of the invention.

1. A locking system for non perfectly stretched suspended partitions,said partitions being made of a flexible web (1) hung at the edges (10′)thereof to a frame attached to the walls (3) or the ceiling of a room ina building, said frame including rails (3) with a shoulder (8) on whichthe edge (10′) bears, said edge (10′), also called grab, having theshape of a hook and including a wing (10′a) through which it isconnected to the web (1) and a seam (10′b), characterized in that theedge or grab (10′) is made of a semi-flexible material and has aflexibility level such that the two branches (10′a and 1 à′b) are spreadapart by at least 45° from each other after said edge has been insertedin the rail (3) so that the portion of the inner face of the seam(10′b), that is to say the face opposite to the wing (10′a), locatedtowards the free end of said seam, is in contact with the shoulder (8)and thus ensures a frictional blocking of the grab (10′) in the rail(3).
 2. The locking system according to claim 1, characterized in thatthe free end of the seam (10′b) of the grab (10′) is beveled.